| 2012 Olympics Park named after the Queen The 2012 Games site in east London will be called the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London's mayor says. bbc.co.uk |
Mutualisation on cards for Post Office Business secretary Vince Cable's plans for the service, which could include selling to a foreign owner, are fuelling fears that mass redundancies will ensueVince Cable, the business secretary, has unveiled plans to mutualise the Post Office as part of the privatisation of Royal Mail.He wants to turn the network of 11,500 branches into a John Lewis-style partnership or a mutualised company, similar to the Co-operative Group, as revealed by the Guardian this month.Under the plan, the private owners of the branches – the subpostmasters – together with customers and local communities would have a greater say over how the network is run.The moves were outlined in the postal services bill, which got its first reading before the House of Commons today. The government confirmed that it will sell up to 100% of Royal Mail, but did not say whether it preferred a stock-market flotation or sale to a company such as Dutch postal operator TNT Post. The bill said that 10% of shares would be handed to employees, as expected, in what Cable described as the UK's largest ever employee share ownership scheme by a company being privatised.Cable and Ed Davey, the minister handling the postal services bill, said that the government would not select the new owners of Royal Mail on the basis of how many jobs they would safeguard. They added that the government would not intervene if, as seems likely, a programme of mass redundancies resulted in industrial action.New owners of Royal Mail, which currently has an agreement with the Communication Workers Union not to make compulsory redundancies, are likely to want to cut costs by axing thousands of jobs. Royal Mail is one of the UK biggest employers with more than 160,000 workers. But unions fear that a modernisation programme – which new owners would accelerate – is likely to result in more job cuts as new automated sorting machines are brought in.Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, said: "The government has wasted no time in flogging off the country's state assets without exploring other options. This obsession with privatisation is deeply worrying. Handing postal services over to the City spivs and gamblers that Vince Cable recently denounced, but is now feeding, will be bad news for everyone."Cable also stressed that the government would not object to Royal Mail being owned by a foreign company, such as TNT or Deutsche Post. "We are not going on a nationalist jihad against foreign companies."Davey attempted to allay the fears of the National Federation of SubPostmasters that the Post Office would not be able to survive as a standalone business. He said he wanted the Post Office to become the "front office for government" to offer its services and process its benefits. But he said that there would no obligation for a privatised Royal Mail to continue to use the Post Office.Ministers are discussions with groups like the Mutuo, which advises on mutualisation, to decide which model would best suit the Post Office.Royal MailVince CableTrade unionsTim Webbguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Search for boys seen in pyjamas More than 50 police officers have been searching for two young children seen on the streets of Nottingham in the early hours of Wednesday. bbc.co.uk |
Public servant earns more than £1 million The head of the state owned bookmaker, the Tote, has received a pay package of £1.15 million, making him the country's best paid public sector executive, it has emerged. telegraph.co.uk |
Newspaper review Mixed messages about the UK's strong growth bbc.co.uk |